A widely used type of crimping apparatus for electrical terminals comprises a conventional press and a terminal applicator. The applicator has an applicator frame, which is mounted on the press platen, and an applicator ram which is coupled to the press ram. The applicator also has a strip feeding mechanism for feeding terminal strip to a crimping zone which contains fixed and movable crimping tooling.
Terminal strip is provided in two general types; terminals in ladder strip form comprises terminals in side-by-side parallel relationship with each terminal being integral with a continuous carrier strip that extends for the length of the strip. Terminals are also manufactured in the form of in-line strip in which the contact portion of each terminal in the strip is connected to the crimp portion of the next adjacent terminal. Different types of applicators are required for the two types and in general, applicators for ladder strip terminals have few parts which are interchangeable with applicators for in-line strip. A manufacturer of applicators must therefore produce a large number of different parts if he is to offer a complete line of applicators for all types of terminal strip.
The present invention is directed to the achievement of a press or applicator frame and ram which can be used in applicators for ladder strip terminals and can be used for applicators for in-line strip terminals.